Objective
Anopheles mosquitoes are responsible for the transmission of malaria parasites of the genus Plasmodium. During its journey in the mosquito the parasite suffers severe losses in numbers due to immune defence mechanisms of the vector. The genome of A. Gambia, the major African vector, has been recently sequenced and is certain to accelerate studies on mosquito innate immunity and vector-parasite interactions. In this context a first pass genomic analysis identified, among others, 7 genes families coding for pattern recognition receptors (PRR), defined as proteins that recognize pathogen associated molecular patterns. One such family encodes the C-type lections (Cols) genes as carbohydrate recognition PRR. The CTL gene family in A. Gambia includes 22 members. A preliminary functional analysis of 10 members by Ran knockout in adult susceptible mosquitoes allowed the identification of two genes, CTLMA2 and CTL4, whose individual knockout in a susceptible mosquito strain induces complete penalization of P.berghei (rodent parasite) kookiness, hence, completely blocking parasite transmission. This striking phenotype suggests that these molecules are beneficial for parasite survival and development and, hence, constitute potential targets for blocking Plasmodium transmission in Anopheles. In this proposal we aim to study the role of CTLMA2 and CTL4 in Anopheles immunity. This involves assessing their expression profile in mosquitoes challenged with microbes and Plasmodium, and determining their mode of action by investigating potential interactions with the surface of Plasmodium kookiness, possible associations with other immunity-related proteins and their sugar specificity. Additionally, the remaining CTL genes will be functionally screened by Ran knockout and those showing interesting phenotypes will be subjected to a similar analysis. Results obtained from this study are expected to highlight the role of Cols in Anopheles innate immunity.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- medical and health sciences health sciences infectious diseases malaria
- medical and health sciences basic medicine immunology
- natural sciences mathematics pure mathematics mathematical analysis functional analysis
- natural sciences computer and information sciences artificial intelligence pattern recognition
- natural sciences biological sciences zoology invertebrate zoology
You need to log in or register to use this function
We are sorry... an unexpected error occurred during execution.
You need to be authenticated. Your session might have expired.
Thank you for your feedback. You will soon receive an email to confirm the submission. If you have selected to be notified about the reporting status, you will also be contacted when the reporting status will change.
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
FP6-2002-MOBILITY-5
See other projects for this call
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Coordinator
HEIDELBERG
Germany
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.